Chinese companies are urging Canadian academics to set up separate businesses to bypass federal research-security screenings, potentially putting sensitive Canadian data at risk, a China scholar told MPs during a committee meeting.
Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Institute for Science, Society and Policy, raised the concern during an Oct. 29 meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research, where MPs were examining threats to Canadian scientific research, including foreign interference, technology theft, and espionage.
“I’m very concerned about the workarounds that some professors are using,” McCuaig-Johnston told the committee.
McCuaig-Johnston, who previously served as executive vice-president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), said some Chinese technology companies, such as China’s state-backed Huawei, are advising professors to set up private businesses they can then use to circumvent research security rules….